


By Any Other Name

by cakelocked



Category: Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Accidental Matchmaker Karyn Faro, Accidental Proposal, Alien Cultural Differences, Art, Clueless Eli Vanto, Courtship, Flowers, Fluff and Crack, Idiots in Love, Language of Flowers, M/M, Marriage, Thrawn's Art Appreciation, now with art!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakelocked/pseuds/cakelocked
Summary: Eli accidentally proposes to Thrawn with a painting.
Relationships: Karyn Faro & Eli Vanto, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo & Eli Vanto, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Comments: 27
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Eli buys a painting while on shore leave, and gives it to Thrawn as a gift. Thrawn analyses it.

It all started when newly minted Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto was alone on shore leave. The planet Deira reminded him just enough of Lysatra to make him feel homesick but otherwise he had enjoyed the peace and quiet. One of the reasons his leave had been so peaceful was the fact that Thrawn hadn’t accompanied him there; the freshly promoted Admiral had been called off to Coruscant. On what business, Eli did not know and had not asked.

He tried to tell himself that he didn’t care either. It felt strange to be on his own after such a long time. He’d had his shore leaves together with Thrawn the whole time they’d known each other. Of course, Eli was not _alone_ alone on the planet; there were other officers and staff of the Chimaera on the planet with him but they had each gone their own way as soon as the shuttle had landed.

Still, the week had gone fast, Thrawn or no Thrawn. Eli had gone to see local attractions, bought a bunch of ridiculously over-priced knick-knacks like any good tourist did on a holiday, and generally just relaxed. He missed his numbers and his work but if he was being honest, the rest was welcome too.

The local culture was vibrant and colourful and there were architectural wonders, various statues and colourful murals, not to mention flower gardens to gawk at almost everywhere he went. The plentiful artworks in particular made him think of what Thrawn would’ve thought of them. What would the chiss have deduced of the people who had made them? Eli had no illusions of his own skills in that department. In spite of that, he enjoyed the lively shapes and multitude of colours, so stark in contrast to Imperial facilities and starships he was used to.

Eli was on a walk after a midday meal when one such painting caught his attention and he wandered closer. The whole outer wall of the building was painted full of various flowers, most of which he did not recognise. It was a riot of colour but somehow it didn’t clash in his eyes.

“Do you like it, mister?”

Eli narrowly avoided the kneejerk reaction to jump at the sudden words, turning to look down at the short and stocky green and purple patterned alien that had appeared beside him seemingly out of nowhere.

“I… I do, yes.” He managed to say, feigning still that he hadn’t just been scared half-way to death.

“Good, good. Mister, come in and see more.” The alien spoke in strongly accented and broken Basic and waved him to follow.

Eli was about to politely decline but he changed his mind as the alien opened a door to a small shop he hadn’t even noticed earlier. He couldn’t read the sign but now that he looked at the shop’s window, he could see various smaller paintings of flowers displayed there.

“Oh,” he murmured and followed the alien.

It became very clear very fast that the alien wasn’t about to let him walk out before selling him at least one painting. Eli, bemused and not a little bit amused, let the being walk him around the tiny shop and show him the paintings. The proceedings seemed to follow some kind of ritual. The proprietor of the shop presented him with a single painting at a time, handing each of them over while holding them with both hands and bowing at Eli after he took them. Eli didn’t know whether to bow back or not and chose not to, busying himself instead with looking at the paintings.

The paintings were exquisite. Even he could see the amount of detail and colours, not to mention the composition: it was clearly the work of a professional. After looking at each painting, he handed them back carefully using two hands, and after some thoughtful tutting, received a new one. They proceeded to go through almost half of the artworks in the place before Eli froze. He looked at the painting he held in his hands; it felt different from the previous ones. Something about this one spoke to him.

Like the other paintings, it was a careful composition of flowers. Rich blues were accented by chosen oranges and yellows, with even some glitters of gold thrown in. Eli looked at the painting and carefully turned it in his hands, making it catch light in different angles. It reminded him of Thrawn, of all things. Not only because of all the blue in it.

“I think I’ll take this,” he blurted out. Then his brain caught up with what he had just said and he attempted to backtrack.

“I mean, I… how much is this even? It must be very expensive!” He felt flustered, a traitorous blush rising to his face.

“Mister, no worry. This very reasonably priced! It would not do, to stay in way of _riiata_!” The alien assured him excitedly.

In the end, the price really was ridiculously low. Eli, feeling a bit like he was robbing the alien, picked up the carefully wrapped up painting.

“Are you sure this is okay?” He asked, confused by the alien shop owner’s generous pricing. 

The alien nodded sagely from behind the tiny counter. “It for someone important, yes?”

Eli raised his eyebrow. Thrawn certainly was important, being an Admiral and all.

“Yes, it is.”

“Then all is good. Go in peace, mister. May you be blessed.”

Eli waved his goodbyes and turned to go. Only one day of shore leave left.

* * *

Being back on the Chimaera felt good. Eli had missed the structure of his days on board, the drive and feeling of being useful, of doing something that mattered. He’d also missed Thrawn way more than he had thought was possible but Eli tried his best to ignore that realization.

Thrawn had returned to the ship earlier than he had, and after a quick shower and change of clothes Eli noticed that there was already a message waiting for him on his datapad. It was from Thrawn, asking for Eli to come and see him whenever convenient.

Eli smiled and typed up a brief message telling Thrawn that he’d come over soon. After sending the message, he took time to finish unpacking, making sure to check that the painting had survived the trip. Thankfully, everything was in order. Eli whistled quietly under his breath as he headed to Thrawn’s quarters with the wrapped-up painting in his hands.

Thrawn’s door opened with Eli’s handprint and he stepped inside.

“Ah, Eli. I hope your shore leave was pleasant,” Thrawn said and motioned for him to sit on the padded chair across from the one he was sitting in. Eli had been in Thrawn’s personal quarters many times before and it felt good to be back once again as he sat down.

“It was, thanks for asking. It was very colourful in there, lots of art too. You missed some really interesting architecture too.”

Thrawn sighed and steepled his fingers. “Alas, one does not refuse the Emperor’s invitations. I would have liked to see Deira myself but I am glad that your time there was pleasant.”

Eli smiled at the other man as he leaned forward to hand over the painting, unconsciously mimicking the two-handed gesture the shopkeeper had performed.

“Not to worry. I got you a little something to add to your collection. It’s not much but I saw it and thought that you would like it.”

Thrawn raised his eyebrows, his eyes gleaming with interest. “Oh. Thank you, Eli. You are most kind.” There was the slightest hint of a smile, something others might have missed.

Eli smiled back, feeling a bit self-conscious, and resisted the urge to rub his neck. “I hope you like it. It reminded me of you.”

Thrawn paused his unwrapping to look at Eli. “I am sure I will like whatever you chose.”

Eli blinked, at a loss of words. A complicated mixture of feelings crossed his face, accompanied by a faint blush, which Thrawn missed as his eyes went back to where he was unwrapping his gift.

“The wrapping paper appears to be patterned as well. Interesting. And the folding technique reminds me of Ssemi paper arts…” Thrawn was completely focused on whatever meanings he was no doubt able to find in his gift.

Eli shook his head slightly and tried to hide his smile by getting up and heading to the small but well-furnished kitchen Thrawn had in his quarters in deference to his rank. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“Tea, if you would.” Eli could tell from the tone that Thrawn’s mind was parsecs away.

“Coming right up.”

* * *

Thrawn heard Eli move about in the kitchen but all his concentration was on the package before him. Every minute detail of the wrapping paper and the folding technique were carefully noted and stored away in his mind. After inspecting the outside of the package, he carefully started to peel away the wrappings, finally uncovering Eli’s gift.

The first impression he had was the riot of colours, so sudden amidst the blacks and greys of his quarters that it was almost shocking. His eyes moved over the painting, taking in its entirety before concentrating on the composition and the smaller details, the play of colours, the variety of brushwork.

He missed Eli’s return with the tea mugs before Eli set his down before him and sat back down.

“I take it that you like it?” the other man asked, smiling and taking a sip of the steaming tea.

Thrawn forced his eyes away from the painting and nodded, looking at Eli with a smile on his face, mirroring Eli’s own.

“I do, indeed. Thank you.”

He looked at the painting one last time before setting it down on the table and picking up his tea. He would have ample time to analyse it after Eli left. Ignoring his friend would be discourteous. Instead he chose to ask him more questions about his shore leave.

They talked for a while before Eli got up, looking regretful. “I better go and get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll be back to our usual duties and I want to be ready for whatever catastrophe that will no doubt strike us.”

Thrawn hid his chuckle and waved Eli off instead. “Off you go, then. Good night, Eli.”

“Good night, Thrawn.”

Left alone, Thrawn didn’t waste time before picking up the painting again. He did not recognise the flowers pictured there and wondered briefly if Eli knew any of them before making a note to check their names and meanings. That done, he spent the rest of the night studying the brushwork and the colouring, discovering more and more details. The biggest surprise was the subtle glint of gold that he noticed as he moved the painting under a better light source.

The gold and the dark blue contrasted beautifully and Thrawn found himself struck by a sudden sense of longing. Blue and gold together… he knew, of course, that Eli didn’t know about the symbolism of those two colours together, no matter how much Thrawn might wish otherwise in his private thoughts. No one outside of the Ascendancy knew.

* * *

As it happened, Eli had been right and the next day descended into chaos very quickly as they picked up a distress call, and while investigating it ran into a small fleet of pirates. The rest of the week went in much the same way, leaving very little downtime between working and sleeping.

It was exactly one week after Eli had gifted him the painting that Thrawn finally had time to study it further. He sat down at his table, calling up several holonet windows and set out searching. The tea he’d made himself earlier had gone cold when he finally leaned back in his chair, eyes staring away at nothing, and his mind reeling with the freshly acquired information.

His first reaction was to deny what he had found. Surely Eli hadn’t meant to imply anything by his gift? Thrawn was not in the habit of denying things about himself, one of them being that he had been harbouring inappropriate feelings towards his aide since… stars, probably since their Academy days. At first, there had been intrigue, then fleeting distrust as he had thought Eli might be spying on him, and then had come friendship and after that… affection. The idea that Eli would reciprocate Thrawn’s affections had never been one Thrawn had allowed himself to consider, for multiple reasons.

For one, there had been their difference in rank. Which reminded him… Oh, was he still silently, privately fuming for the short-sightedness and pettiness that had robbed Eli of his rightful rise in rank for such a long time, as well as his own blindness to the issue. For another, it had been the fact that they had become friends… Thrawn did not have many friends, had never had one as close as Eli, if he did not count in his own brother. The idea of jeopardising that friendship with something that could potentially bring about the downfall of their relationship, was an idea he’d considered briefly and then promptly discarded.

Now, though. Now, Thrawn looked at the innocuous painting lying on the table before him, illuminated in the blue light of the multiple holonet windows and holograms. The conclusion of his research was unmistakable, as much as part of him wished that it weren’t so. Dark blue _xal_ flowers, bright, vibrant orange _éu_ blossoms, some still budding, the subtlest golden glint of _ttro_ vine embedded in the arrangement, keeping the flowers together. The finishing touch of lighter blue _llanica_ flowers circling the rest, all accentuated by the pale yellow background. And the meanings of those flowers circling in his mind: loyalty, devotion, balance, and love. Not just any type of love either, Thrawn thought, almost despairingly as his eyes strayed back to the open holonet window about _llanica_ flowers and their meaning.

It seemed that the Deira had very specific ideas about flowers and their meanings. As it was, _llanica_ was the symbol of passionate, devoted love, and marriage. There existed a dozen flowers with almost identical meanings but none of the others were so obviously romantic. Their meanings were more subtle; different shades and variations of familial love, love between friends, and so on. This one flower was special though, Thrawn had found out, its meaning intended to be quite clear.

He could not deny the facts any longer. What he was looking at here, on his table, what Eli had presented him with, was a traditional Deiran proposal painting. The last time Thrawn had felt as surprised and taken unawares had been when he had still been a cadet in the Ascendancy Defence Fleet. To feel that way now, after all he had been through since, was testament to how shaken he truly was.

* * *

It had been subtle but Eli knew Thrawn, and he knew, he just _knew_ that the other man had been acting strange for the past week when dealing with Eli. He had tried to ignore it at first, telling himself that he was just imagining things. When it hadn’t stopped after a few days, he’d started to worry. Eli hated the way he was feeling increasingly off-kilter himself.

It wasn’t even that Thrawn was avoiding him in any way. On the contrary, he’d been called to Thrawn’s quarters just to have a talk and socialise more often than usually. Thrawn hadn’t said or done anything strange; they’d talked about the same things as usual. Still, Eli couldn’t shake the feeling that something essential had changed in their interactions and the fact that he didn’t know what it was was eating him alive.

There were fleeting glances that he had caught from the corner of his eye, conversations that were aborted before a single word was spoken. There was a new undercurrent of tension in the air between the two of them that Eli couldn’t place. How did one approach his superior officer, who was also his friend, to talk about what was wrong when said superior officer clearly did not want to do so?

Eli sat in the quiet of his own quarters. A rare free evening with no invite from Thrawn to come and see him. He did not know what to do with the time. Sleep? Eli certainly could do with sleep. Still, he did not want to go to sleep just yet, nor did he want to mull over Thrawn’s mysterious behaviour any longer.

His datapad beeped with an incoming message. Eli picked it up from the table, both hoping and fearing that the sender would be Thrawn.

It was Faro. She was inviting him for a round of drinks in the officer’s lounge. _Alcohol, yes. I could do with a drink or three_ , he mused, and sent back his affirmative reply.

* * *

Much, much later in the evening Eli chugged down his nth drink, and flopped rather than leaned back in his seat. On the table before him and Faro there was a growing mountain of glassware; a testament to a long evening spent in the lounge, with several rounds of drinks behind them.

The rest of the lounge was all but deserted, except for the serving droid and a lone officer perusing their datapad and nursing a big colourful cocktail, looking stressed.

Eli huffed and turned his gaze to the ceiling, feeling morose.

“I just… I just don’ get it.” Eli didn’t bother with reeling in his wild space twang. The accent that he usually tried to hide accompanied by his drunken drawl made for quite the combination.

Faro chugged down her drink and leaned back in her chair, mimicking Eli’s earlier movement. They were both extremely drunk, and neither of them cared.

“What? What don’t you get, huh? You’re the numbers boy, you’re smart! Ugh, dammit.” Her glass threatened to fly from her hand as she gestured.

Eli let out a _mmgnh_ sound, and leaned forward, his head in his hands. “Wossit. Wossit somethin’ I did? Why’s he being so kriffin’ weird?” His voice was slightly muffled.

The serving droid brought them new drinks and rolled away. Faro nursed her own and looked at Eli, slumped in his chair.

“This’s all about Thrawn, isn’t it? It’s always ‘bout him with you.”

Eli raised his head to look at Faro balefully before leaning forward to pick up his drink. He turned his gaze to it, as if the pink liquid held the secrets of the universe.

“He’s bein’ weird. I mean weirder than usual. Kriff.”

Faro took a long sip and tried to think. “Well did you _do_ something? Was it the shore leave you had coupla weeks ago?”

She took another sip and then her face lit up. “Didja cause some kinda scandal there or something? C’mon, you can tell auntie Karyn.”

Eli groaned and downed the rest of his disgustingly sweet drink in one go.

“I didn’t! I just went ‘n saw the sights. Kriff, I even bought him a souv– souvern– _souvenir_.”

He set the empty glass down on the crowded table and fumbled his pockets for his pad.

“Here, look. I took a holo of it.” Eli shoved the datapad at Karyn and flagged down the droid for more drinks.

Karyn took the pad and looked at the holoimage. It was a painting of flowers. She was no art connoisseur but she did know her flowers. “Well, _kriff_ _me_. Nice painting.”

“Thanks. Thrawn liked it too.” Eli stopped talking, looking suddenly alarmed. “Or did he? What if he _hated_ it?”

Karyn raised her hand. “Hey, don’t say that. There’s no way he’d hate anything you give him, least of all art. I bet ya could bring ‘im a bantha turd an’ he’d still treasure it.”

Eli laughed, placated, scooping his new drink in his hand as soon as the droid brought it. This time it was bright orange. Karyn took hers as well and took another look at the holo and the flowers. _Could it be…_

“Hey didn’t I tell you about my ex-girlfriend that one time? The florist togruta?”

Eli looked pained as he forced himself to use his remaining brain cells. “Yeah, I think so. Wasn’t she also a weightlifting champion?”

“Yeah, she was, could lift me up like I weighed nothing…” She laughed at Eli’s reddening face and embarrassed expression, and changed the subject.

“Well, didja know that the kriffin’ flowers have a language? _I_ didn’t. Not until she told me that the flower bouquet that I’d gotten her actually meant that I _hated_ her and wanted to bang her mother.”

She took a swig of her drink at the embarrassing memory.

When she looked at Eli again, he had a look on his face like he’d had some kind of epiphany.

“ _Flowers_ … Oh kriffin’ hells…” he mumbled to himself, and slumped forward, his head hitting the table with a solid thud.

Karyn leaned closer, gently prodding at him. “Hey, Vanto. Hey!”

There was no answer.

“Oh kriff,” she muttered to no one in particular, looking up from her friend’s motionless form at the empty lounge.

* * *

The next morning was a nightmare. Eli had a sizeable lump on his forehead, and the last time he’d been so hungover had been after one fateful night of partying with the other cadets at the Myomar Academy. He didn’t know which was worse: the fact that his shift was starting in 30 minutes or the fact that he could actually remember the night before. _Oh, gods_. Faro would never let him hear the end of it. Also, any research into flower meanings would have to wait until after his shift.

Eli was actually quite proud of how he managed to power through his shift. Granted, he had poked himself with a stim and had 5 cups of black caf in order to survive. Still, the fact that he had not keeled over from exhaustion, or simply puked his guts out was a miracle. Thrawn had thrown him questioning looks throughout the shift but he had managed to avoid most of them, choosing to keep his eyes on his datapad. Numbers and statistics never let him down. As soon as the shift was over, he fled from the bridge with as much grace as he managed, leaving behind a very perplexed Thrawn, and a quietly amused Faro, who of course did not seem to be suffering from any kind of hangover at all.

Eli let himself relax only after the door to his quarters closed behind him. He’d survived the shift and now it was time to find out why Thrawn had been acting so strange. The night before was embarrassing to remember but he also had Faro and her ex to thank for the possible lead. _Still, I’m never drinking anything that Faro orders ever again_ , Eli thought to himself. The ghost of the sickly-sweet taste of the pink liqueur still lingered in his mind. 

Eli quickly exchanged out of his uniform and into more comfortable clothes. He then made himself a cup of tea and grabbed a nutrition bar. He had absolutely no intention of visiting the mess hall or leaving his quarters for any reason for the rest of the day.

“Okay, let’s see.” He sat down at his small table and set to work.

The search “language of flowers” gave initially way too many results, and only after narrowing it down to Deiran culture he managed to find relevant results.

After that it was fast work: consulting the holo of the painting, and looking up the various plants and flowers listed in the holonet site’s archives. Eli hummed as he sipped his tea.

_Loyalty_ , _devotion_ , so far so good. The golden vine appeared to mean _balance_ , in relationships or otherwise. “Well, the placement makes sense,” he mused under his breath, his eyes tracing the vine threaded amongst the flowers in the painting.

“The last one is called… _llanica_?” He double checked it; yes, the small light blue flowers were definitely _llanica_.

“So, let’s see what this says about their meaning,” he said to himself as he started to read.

It took about three sentences for Eli’s already tenuous peace of mind to shatter completely.

“What… no!” He yelled, surprised, almost throwing his datapad at the wall.

He read the beginning of the first paragraph again but the words there did not magically change their meaning. Eli stared down at his datapad, and the glowing text on the screen, horrified.

> Even among the complex system of Deiran floral symbolism, _llanica_ flowers hold a special meaning. While living _llanica_ flowers are one of the most well-known symbols for passionate, devoted love and marriage, especially when gifted to one’s partner or intended, the _llanica_ flower is still best known for its use exclusively in Deiran proposal paintings.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Eli cursed loudly, scrolling downwards on the page.

There were illustrations, some of which looked horrifyingly similar to the painting he had _gifted to Thrawn_. No wonder the other man had been acting strange! Eli had… what, kriffing _proposed to him?_

Distantly, Eli was aware that he was freaking out and needed to calm down.

He just needed to go and apologize to Thrawn. Say that it was an honest mistake, which it _had_ been. Eli breathed in slowly and let it out in a little huff. _Calm, calm_. He could do calm.

The very second that he’d had that thought, his door chimed.

“Lieutenant Commander Vanto, are you there?”

Of _course_ , it just _had_ to be Thrawn. Not for the first time Eli wondered if the alien had some kind of sixth, no, more like seventh sense, which informed him of all the opportunities to intrude on things that weren’t any of his business. He breathed in and out, all but flinging the datapad down the table before standing up and running a nervous hand through his hair.

“Yes, yes. Just a moment.”

Eli cast a frantic look around his quarters; no terrible messes anywhere. Yeah, he could do this.

Thrawn didn’t waste time, stepping inside as soon as Eli opened the door.

“I wanted to make sure you were well.” Eli could feel the red eyes looking at him. The scrutiny wasn’t anything new but it was nevertheless intense when directed at himself. He fought the blush threatening to rise to his cheeks, and lost the fight as he remembered what he had just read.

“You appear quite flushed. Do you have a fever?” Thrawn’s smooth voice wouldn’t have sounded any different to a casual listener but Eli could hear that the chiss was genuinely worried.

Before Eli could answer, Thrawn raised a cool hand and pressed it to his forehead. Eli fought the reflex to step back and ended up, to his mortification, pushing just the slightest bit back into the touch. Then he finally found his voice.

“I’m fine. I made the mistake of drinking with Commander Faro last night.”

Thrawn kept his hand there for a moment longer before lowering it slowly. “I see.”

Eli couldn’t read the chiss’ face or tone, and that made him even more nervous.

“Um, do you want something to drink? Tea, caf?” He stepped back, turning and heading towards the corner that held his tiny kitchen area. When in doubt, fall back into the role of a good, polite Lysatran host.

He could hear Thrawn walking towards the table and chairs and sitting down. “Tea, if you would please, thank you.”

“Got it.”

As Eli busied himself with the tea, very carefully not looking at Thrawn, Thrawn found himself looking at Eli’s turned back, his messy brown hair and the sliver of brown skin on his neck peeking from between the locks of hair, before very deliberately looking away. It took more effort than Thrawn would have liked.

He looked down at his hands, carefully folded on his lap, one placed on top of the other. Thrawn could still feel the ghost of Eli’s warmth on his hand and resisted the need to sigh. A glowing screen caught his eye and he saw a datapad balanced haphazardly on the edge of the table. With no further thoughts he leaned forward to move the pad into a more secure position. However, as he picked it up his eyes caught the sight of a familiar holonet page.

_It couldn’t be…_ But it was. Thrawn looked at the open entry: symbolism of the _llanica_ flowers. The very same entry he still had open on his own, very private datapad. He turned to look at Eli, still puttering around the kitchen, and then looked back down at the pad. He had a choice, now. He could simply ignore the situation and choose to keep the status quo, or take action and face the consequences. He already knew what a true warrior would do, and to do anything else would be to disrespect his and Eli’s relationship.

Now, Thrawn was left with the question of _how_ to handle the situation. His knowledge of human courtships in general was pitifully lacking, not to mention that he had no idea what sort of traditions might be specific to Lysatran culture. However, he did know how the proper rituals were performed among the Chiss, and Eli deserved nothing less than formal courtship.

Of course, Thrawn would still need to do research before taking action. A wise warrior knew when to retreat in order to consider further strategy. He looked down at the pad once more, and very carefully set it on the table, screen facing downwards. He could hear Eli coming over, taking the offered teacup with thanks.

Eli sat down across from him, looking down at his own tea. There was a brief silence as they both searched for something to say. Eli broke the silence first, having thought of little else than what to say to Thrawn while making the tea.

“I apologize for worrying you. Thanks for coming to check up on me though.” He mustered a genuine smile, touched that Thrawn had been thinking of him.

“No apologies are needed, Eli. I am glad that you are well.” Thrawn smiled back, a barely-there quirk of his lips. Easy to miss for anyone else, but not Eli.

Thrawn took his leave not long after and Eli was left feeling both relieved and suspicious. There was no way that Thrawn had missed the meaning of the painting; Eli knew only too well how obsessively he analysed almost every piece of art he came into contact with. _So why didn’t he say anything?_

* * *

The next couple of days were blessedly normal. There had been, however, the mystery of missing food supplies, an investigation into what had happened to said supplies, and the subsequent discovery of stowaways in one of their main cargo bays. In the end, there had been an unofficial lottery for the custody of the culprits: three rather large and no doubt well fed tooka cats. Eli hadn’t taken part, nor had Thrawn. Neither had he forbidden it, though Eli knew full well that the chiss had been aware of the lottery.

After the tooka infestation had been dealt with, it had been an especially idiotic group of pirates, and after that a slaver vessel. All of them quite easily dealt with but a nuisance all the same. Amidst all the work-related excitement there hadn’t been much time for Eli to think about the fact that he had apparently proposed to Thrawn.

That said, the thought had been on his mind every moment it wasn’t occupied with work. All the more now that Thrawn had been acting strange once again. It had started the day after Eli’s discovery, with the shocking revelation that Thrawn had apparently been using red eye liner all this time, and for some reason had decided to change it to a much less subtle, golden one. Eli had choked on his morning caf at the sight, and Faro and Hammerly had both had to slap his back until he’d managed to breathe again. Thrawn, the blue bastard himself, hadn’t appeared to notice the effect he’d had on Eli.

The gold eye liner had become the new standard, despite the questioning looks it got. After the eye liner incident, Thrawn had arranged for an intensive session of sparring, which Eli had been for some reason requested to attend as a spectator. As a result, Eli had been treated to the sight of shirtless and sweaty Thrawn fighting multiple assassin droids at once, while he’d sat in the corner of the room and held Thrawn’s water bottle and towel. The sight had been distracting enough that Eli had wondered why he had been invited there only after leaving Thrawn’s quarters.

The latest instance of non-standard behaviour from Thrawn had been an invitation to dinner in Thrawn’s personal quarters.

Upon arriving Eli had noticed that he’d been the only one invited, and that Thrawn had prepared the food himself. The food had been excellent, the wine some vintage Eli had no doubt must’ve cost a fortune, and Thrawn himself had been almost… charming as a host.

Eli left Thrawn’s quarters with a bag of leftovers and a spinning head. He had a feeling he needed to come to a decision and soon. Any longer and he’d really start to lose it.

* * *

Thrawn looked on as Eli left, and decided that the night had been a success. So far, his plan had proceeded exactly as intended. Chiss courtships were four step affairs: a formal declaration of one’s intentions, followed by demonstrations of the would-be spouse’s abilities to keep their intended safe and fed.

Thrawn had given Eli the formal declaration of his wish to enter to a courtship by wearing golden eye paint. It didn’t matter that Eli did not know its significance. Thrawn had wanted to honour the courtship rituals of his people to the letter; it was a sign of respect. Eli deserved as much, and more. _Much_ more.

Next, had been the demonstration of his warrior’s abilities: his victory over the several assassin droids, which Eli had witnessed. After that, providing dinner had only been the logical next step.

Thrawn had now fulfilled three of the four steps required but the last one was proving to be much trickier than the rest. Of course, he had anticipated as much when he had first decided to follow the formal steps of courtship.

The fourth step was to present his intended with something that was meaningful and symbolic to them both. Despite the fact that he had foreseen the problem that the fourth step posed, he was no closer to solving it. Thrawn sat down at his table and let his mind roam free. Fleetingly, he thought of his extra rank plaque, now long lost during one of their adventures. His eyes found the painting that had started all this. _Flowers_ … Thrawn’s eyes gleamed as an idea started to form in his mind. _Yes, that would be more than appropriate_. He finally had a plan. Now, the challenge was how to implement the plan in order to achieve the desired outcome.

* * *

Commander Faro had had a relaxing and quiet night before her datapad suddenly lit up indicating a new message. She cursed as she saw who the sender was. _What the kriff does he want at this hour?_ She scanned the message and groaned. How did he know these kinds of things?

> Commander Faro, I would like to request a personal favour of you. I understand that your former paramour is a florist, and I would wish to contact her regarding some very important, time sensitive business. As such, I would greatly appreciate if you could share her contact details with me as soon as possible.  
>  –Thrawn

Faro resisted the urge to throw the pad into the nearest wall. When they had told her that life under the command of the new Admiral was going to be interesting, this wasn’t what she had imagined.

“What the hell does he need a florist for?” She asked out loud. Then, as soon as the words had left her mouth, she got it, and burst out laughing. “Oh! Oh, _stars_ , this is going to be grand!” 

Still chuckling, she set out to message Liad, hoping that her old contact details were still accurate.

_Ha, if I play my cards right, I’ll win the betting pool! Credits and the Scarif holiday, here I come_ , she thought to herself, smirking.

* * *

Eli knew one thing: the weirdness between him and Thrawn had to stop. He didn’t think he could stand it any longer. Thank the stars there hadn’t been any more weird invitations after their dinner a few nights ago. Still, that didn’t mean that things between him and Thrawn had gone back to normal.

The tooka was out of the bag and Eli could not ignore how he felt about Thrawn any longer. Eli had thought that he had managed to mask his wandering thoughts quite well during shifts; that was, until Faro had gently guided him aside after one shift and all but pleaded for him to “do something, for kriff’s sake.” Eli had huffed, annoyed, refusing to believe that he had made any kind of bantha eyes at Thrawn during the shift.

The point remained though; he _had_ to talk to Thrawn before he lost his mind. Eli stopped his pacing and looked down at his pad, innocuously positioned on the table. _How did he feel?_ In truth, he knew full well how he felt, how he had felt for far longer than he wanted to admit, even to himself. What held him back, then? Of course, Eli knew that too. It was fear, fear of losing what he had with Thrawn.

Eli knew that he had grumbled about his position as Thrawn’s aide more than once, even told Thrawn that he would have wanted to be a supply officer. At first, staying with Thrawn hadn’t been out of his own choice, but for far longer than not, it had. It wasn’t often but Eli sometimes thought about his encounter with Moff Ghadi’s flunky. That conversation, as well as the attack on him and Thrawn at the Academy had been turning points for him, and on both of those occasions he had chosen Thrawn. At this point, Eli had no doubts: he would always choose Thrawn.

Sitting down at the table, he ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. _That damned painting. If only I hadn’t bought it. Everything would be normal and I wouldn’t be having a breakdown because I accidentally proposed to Thrawn._ He sighed.

“The funny thing is that I’m more afraid of the possibility of him saying no, than of him saying yes…” Admitting it out loud, even if only to himself, felt strangely liberating.

In the end, sending the message to Thrawn was both deceptively easy, and the hardest thing Eli had ever done. Thrawn answered almost immediately with an affirmative. He let out a slightly hysterical laugh. “Well, now I can’t avoid it anymore.”

* * *

Thrawn took a moment to arrange his thoughts and change his expression back to normal. It was all coming together now: much like a well-planned military campaign. The florist had been most accommodating, if not inquisitive, and amused, as well as extremely expensive. In the end, Thrawn hadn’t cared about the cost and had paid the price that she had set.

The logistics of arranging the delivery of living flowers aboard a Star Destroyer had been challenging, but Thrawn had put his own experience, as well as the knowledge Eli had taught him about supply chains to good work. As a result, a trio of very perplexed ensigns fresh out of the Royal Imperial Academy of Coruscant were assigned to ISD Chimaera, effective immediately and were to arrive on board accompanied by a mysterious container unit they were charged with protecting.

The three couldn’t agree on what it was; one thought it was a prototype of an explosive weapon, another argued that it had to be some kind of bioweapon, and the third kept her thoughts to herself. All in all, it wasn’t the most pleasant journey for any of them.

Thrawn was there to greet the shuttle himself, as was Faro, and a couple of stormtroopers as their customary escort. Faro took the distressed ensigns under her wing after greetings had been exchanged, and left with a sideways look towards the container. _Kriffing finally!_ _I’m so going to win._

Thrawn collected the container and set off towards his quarters, ignoring the questioning looks of the crewmembers he passed. His datapad alerted him of a message halfway there and he smiled as he saw that it was from Eli. He sent a message back, informing him that he would arrive soon.

The container opened with the code the florist had provided, and Thrawn was greeted by the pressurised hiss of the lid being lifted, and a smell of fresh greenery. The bouquet looked exactly like the one in the painting, and he made a note to himself to provide the florist with a glowing recommendation.

Thrawn left the container in his own quarters and set out to Eli’s quarters with the flowers on the crook of his arm. This time the looks he got were even more baffled. Some of the people even seemed to come to a conclusion, and quickly find somewhere else to be, and possibly to seek out others and tell them of what they had just witnessed.

* * *

Eli paced to and from his small sitting room as his door chimed. He fought down the irrational impulse to hide beneath the table, and instead walked to the door. As the door swished open, the first thing he saw were the flowers, and his eyes widened in surprise. The second thing he noticed, sort of distantly, like he was having an out-of-body experience, was the gaggle of various crewmembers who were lurking in the hallway, a fair distance from him and Thrawn but still clearly within sight of them.

Oh, yes. Thrawn bringing his aide flowers. Completely normal. Without speaking, he stood aside and motioned Thrawn to step inside, which the other man did. Eli let out a breath as the door slid shut, cutting off the no doubt already gossiping crew.

Thrawn cleared his throat and turned to face Eli. Eli thought he saw some uncharacteristic uncertainty in his expression before it vanished. Then, he watched as Thrawn bowed to him, a low and graceful bow. Before he could speak, Thrawn straightened and presented him the flowers in a ceremonial manner, holding the bouquet with two hands.

Eli blinked, and just for a second, hesitated. He knew now what the flowers meant. Thrawn, no doubt, knew too. If Eli took them now, there would be no going back. Not even daring to breathe, Eli took the bouquet, cradling it in both of his hands. It really was the same bouquet as in the painting.

His head whipped up at Thrawn’s voice, now suddenly full of feeling, more so than Eli could ever remember it being.

“I, Mitth’raw’nuruodo, accept your proposal, Eli Vanto.”

Eli felt himself blushing furiously, and fought the sudden need to bury his face in the flowers. He looked at Thrawn and saw the faint purple hue rising to the chiss’ face. He couldn’t help but smile.

“I am honoured.” What more he could say? For once, words had well and truly abandoned Eli, in Basic and Sy Bisti both, and so he decided to his let actions speak instead.

Eli turned around and walked to the table, very deliberately setting down the bouquet before he turned around again to face Thrawn.

The chiss had followed him to where he was standing next to the table, and Eli found himself almost chest to chest with the taller man. Throwing caution to the wind, Eli reached out and grasped Thrawn’s hand. The chiss was very warm, despite the appearance of his blue skin to human eyes. Eli caressed Thrawn’s hand, and looked down at their joined hands. A soft gasp made him raise his eyes to look at Thrawn, who in turn looked at him with a soft look of wonder on his usually very neutral face.

Eli smiled softly at him, and reached up to cup Thrawn’s face with his free hand. Thrawn leaned in to the touch, and Eli’s heart felt like it was about to burst. Encouraged, Eli leaned up on his tip-toes and slid the hand cupping the chiss’ face to cradle the back of his neck, enjoying the feel of the silky soft hair there, before all his attention turned to their first kiss. It was brief, and despite all its imperfections, utterly perfect. As the kiss ended, Eli brought their foreheads together and closed his eyes, enjoying the closeness.

“I have loved you for a long time,” Thrawn’s voice was low and raw, despite its softness.

Eli opened his eyes and leaned back to look at Thrawn better, still not letting go of the other man.

“I love you too,” Eli all but whispered, and enjoyed the blush that rose to Thrawn’s face before pulling the taller man down to another kiss.

++

Her shift was finally over, the new ensigns had been assigned their duties and positions, and Thrawn had just sent her a message to inform her that both him and Vanto were off duty for the next rotation. Faro sighed contentedly as she kicked off her boots and threw herself on the sofa. On the table in front of her was the pile of credits she had scored, and a bottle of the best Corellian ale the ship had to offer. Man, it felt good to win. She could barely wait for her next shore leave. _Scarif, here I come_.

She leaned forward and cracked the bottle open using the edge of her sitting table. _I’ve kriffing earned this_ , she thought to herself, as she took a hearty swig. Now, she just hoped that Thrawn and Vanto wouldn’t cause any more excitement.


	2. The Infamous Painting Itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The painting from the fic drawn by my friend!! <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Here](https://skeletonremoval.tumblr.com/post/613783233147076608/this-is-for-my-friend-starkkillerbase-who-wrote) is the rebloggable version! :3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for my awsome beta reader!!! 
> 
> Writing these two idiots was very fun :D 
> 
> The title of this work is a reference to [this poem](https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/by_any_other_name_219517) by Andrea Dietrich.


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